In Nate Fords Bedroom
by Leveragelover
Summary: Sophie searches through Nates bedroom. Set during The Beantown Bailout Job.
1. Chapter 1

**I wrote this a long long time ago but I ended up never finishing it. A little while ago I went back and finally finished it. Here it is! I don't own Leverage.**

_In Nate Fords Bedroom_

"Bugger," Sophie gasped as Nate slumped on the floor. She had followed him up to his apartment in hope of getting a better greeting then at her play. Unfortunately she got there to see some punk trying to stab him in the back with a knife. The attacker had run out of the apartment and Nate followed after him. Instead of the attacker coming back, it was Nate. She had him straight on the face with the sheet pan and he had slumped down unconscious. She rushed over to him checking his pulse first. Good, he was still alive. She slapped his cheek lightly trying to get him to wake up. He didn't stir. Sophie panicked and decided it would be best if she got him on the couch, since she was not dragging his poor limp body upstairs. She pulled him out of the way so she could close the door. Then she grabbed his wrists and dragged him over to the couch. His shirt hitched up on him revealing most of his stomach. His jeans also got pulled down slightly showing her a little more then just the waistband of his boxers. Sophie couldn't help but grin to herself as she looked at him. It was quite possible he would wake up and then her fun would be over. She paused trying to think of the best way to do it. Screw it. Sophie picked him up and sort of tossed him on the couch. His shirt and jeans were all screwed up from her dragging him across the floor. Sophie saw a piece of paper fall from his jacket pocket. She picked it up and put it in her pocket, reminding herself to read it later. She untwisted his shirt and pulled it back down over his stomach. Although a voice in her head was telling her to pull his jeans up she couldn't bring herself to. Instead she got up and headed for the stairs. That's when she thought of something. She was alone with an unconscious Nate. A million dirty things went through her mind and she quickly shut them out. Sophie clenched her hands and stomped her feet. Why does everything have to be so damn difficult? She had a few options in this situation. 1) Use all of her self control and go to bed. 2) Give him a quick kiss on the forehead and go to bed. 3) Kiss him, go to bed and probably end up crying. 4) (Which was probably the funniest of them all) She could stick her hand down his pants, kiss him...a lot, go to bed feeling unsatisfied but still really happy and then wake up the next day feeling guilty. Option number four sounded really inviting but she couldn't risk him waking up. Sophie didn't think that Nate would be extremely happy to have Sophie using his unconsciousness as an advantage. Although if her hands were down his pants and her mouth was on his, he probably wouldn't care until later. Sophie smiled to herself before going back to give him a kiss on the forehead. She almost broke and kissed him on the lips but she pulled back, her hands yanking at her own hair. She turned away quickly and headed upstairs.

She looked around in all the rooms. There was no guest bedroom. Sophie wouldn't admit to herself that she was happy about it. She pranced into Nates room inhaling the smell. God, she was just trying to torture herself. She had always pinned him as being very clean and precise. To her surprise his room was littered with dirty clothes and just empty bags and baskets. His bed wasn't made and the pillows had been thrown every which way. That's when she saw a once in a lifetime chance. Sophie could now snoop around Nathan Fords bedroom at free will. She squealed with excitement and headed to his closet first. It was filled mostly with suits ones for cons and ones not. He had lines of shoes and hats (mostly fedoras.) She looked all over the ground inspecting his clothes. She saw one of his button up shirts and she picked it up. Sophie wanted to wear it so bad, his scent was intoxicating her. It seemed only fair that she should considering she didn't go with option four. Quickly throwing her shirt off to the side she slipped on Nates shirt breathing in the smell of it. The man could drive her crazy with just his scent. Sophie noticed a pair of his boxers lying on the floor and she automatically picked them up. They were...not what she expected. Red? It wasn't dark red, it was bright red. There must be more to Nathan Ford then meets the eye. 'Well duh he's Nathan Ford cryptic extraordinaire' Sophie thought to herself. She chewed on her bottom lip trying to decided if she should wear his boxers or not. 'You're wasting time!' she mentally slapped herself. Quickly she took her jeans off and put on his bright red boxers. She couldn't help an evil laugh from escaping as she turned to his bathroom. It was just as bad as his room. There were clothes and towels just thrown everywhere. There was all type of bottles most of which (at closer inspection) are used for hair. His razor and shaving cream and been shoved in the corner, but didn't look neglected.

"I never knew the trouble he goes through just to get his hair right," Sophie muttered to herself in amazement. There were bottles of cologne out and she smelled some of them. None of them she recognized. Sophie crouched down and opened the drawer under the sink. It was mostly just the same stuff that was on the counter. She closed them and got up, making her way over to his shower. She snatched his shampoo from its place in the shower and sniffed it. It was apple scented with slight cinnamon in it. Sophie really wanted to go smell his hair now. 'No! Focus Sophie' She took another final glance around before walking out of the bathroom.

The dresser was next. The first drawer had shorts and sweat pants. The one next to it held his jeans. Below that were his t-shirts and next to it was his socks and boxers. It all seemed fairly normal, which was disappointing, she was hoping to find something hinky. She sighed and sat down on his bed. There was a lock on his nightstand drawer. That screamed secrets. But she didn't have a lock pick it bobby pin. Sophie moved so she was lying down on his bed. His whole bed had his scent on it, which is normal, but was driving her insane. She was about to turn the light off when she thought of something. Tara had told her a long time ago about how she found a gun under her boyfriends bed. 'You want to know a mans true secrets, look under his bed' Tara's voice rang in her head. She flipped over and moved herself so she was hanging off the side. Sophie flipped the bed skirt up and...well it was not what she expected. It couldn't be...but it was. Handcuffs, blindfolds, rope, leather riding crop and tons of other kinky things. "Bugger!"

She let her hands graze over a few of the things before pushing them out of the way. Behind it she saw a shoebox. She pulled it out and brought it up on the bed with here. Now this screamed secrets. Nervously she opened the box. Inside the box were article clippings, letters, pictures, and other silly little doo-dads. She pulled out one of them, noticing the light pink paper with the purple flower stamped on it as her own. She always stamped her letters with a purple flower because her middle name was amaranth. As she opened it with delicate fingers she saw it was dated just a few weeks after Sams death. Her mind flashed back to when she wrote it on her typewriter all those years ago. As her eyes slipped over the paper she saw her name signed in her mixture of print and cursive at the bottom. She folded the letter back up and rifled through some of the pictures. It was an odd feeling to reminisce in someone else's memories. It was as if she were in his place, looking back on the failure and the proud moments...the guilt and grief. She gently placed everything back in the box and slid it back into its rightful place. "What now?" She whispered softly to herself. Her mind went over to his small shelf of books and the wall lined with pictures of praying mantises. The pictures freaked her out a little. She didn't mind bugs but she was not a huge fan of them. At least he didn't have pictures of rats on his walls. A shudder passed through her at the thought of the vile creatures being displayed on the wall.

As she sat there she became sleepy, laying down on his bed and pulling up the covers. His scent was giving her so much comfort. She loved it. Even though it had only been six months she realized how much she missed them - him. Then she thought about her boyfriend and how she was lying to him. They talked all the time and she really liked him. 'No,' she thought, 'Katherine likes him not you.' She was lying to Nate too. He didn't even know her real name. Did it matter though? He knew her...he knew things about her. Sophie sighed heavily and tried to block these thoughts from her head. They would bring nothing but trouble.

But you know you can't keep the storm away forever...


	2. Chapter 2

**I decided to write a second chapter. Any mistakes are my own since I just wrote it today.**

_Your Shirt _

The first day of the con was over and Nate was ready to just fall into bed and sleep. The curtains to his windows were still drawn and he walked over to them, opening them in one swoop of his arm. He walked over to the next one, eyes randomly on the floor. In his abundance of haphazardly thrown clothes on the floor he saw someone's shirt that wasn't his. He quickly recognized it as Sophie's. That's when his mind was transported back to the morning when she had come downstairs wearing his shirt. He picked it up off the floor and went downstairs. It would be best if he just went and returned it now so he wouldn't have it hanging over his head.

Once he got to the apartment building she buzzed him in. When he got up there she was already expecting him. He walked in and she shut the door behind him. "You, uh, you left your shirt at my apartment," He said timidly, holding it out to her.

"Oh, uh, sorry about that. You didn't need to make a special trip to return it." She looked embarrassed as she took her shirt from him.

"Yeah, well, I kind of also wanted my shirt back."

"Oh, right! I'll go get it," Sophie exclaimed. She looked even more embarrassed as she rushed off to go get his shirt and put hers away. His shirt was lying down on the floor where she had deposited it earlier. She really did not want to give it back, but if she were to ask if she could keep it that would just make her sound strange and creepy. At least he didn't come to question her about what she did while he was unconscious. She half shrugged at the thought, lips in a slight frown and eyebrow quirked up.

"Um, Sophie what's taking you so long?" Came Nates voice from behind. He had stuck his head inside the doorframe, hands planted on the wood of it.

"Huh? Oh. I was just thinking. It's right here." She grabbed it off the floor and threw hers on her bed. "It's probably all wrinkled so you'll need to wash it or something. I, uh, would've done it myself but you know we were busy with the con and...um...yeah."

He took his shirt and forced a smile. "Uh, thanks."

She followed him down the hallway and over to the door. Just a few more steps and she'd be in the clear. He opened the door and put on foot out...almost there. Then he stopped. Damn it!

"Sophie," he turned around to look at her, "did you really look under my bed?"

"No," She lied.

"Liar."

"Well that is my job."

"So you admit it?"

"No."

"Sophie."

"Nate."

She was holding onto the door and he slipped it from her grip and shut it. He took a step towards her and she took a step back. She put her hands firmly on her hips and gave him a look. "Why would I even look under your bed?"

"Because you're you."

"Not a good enough reason."

He sighed, pressing his tongue to the inside of his cheek. This should've been a simple yes or no question. Leave it to her to maker things more complicated then they need to be. "I know you're curious."

She moved her hands from her hips and crossed her arms, putting her weight on her right foot. "What exactly do you think I'm curious about if you think you're so smart."

"You want to know why I have that stuff."

She pressed the tip of her tongue to the inside of her canine tooth. It was a habit she had. "I do admit I am a bit curious why you have those things. I thought you hadn't been with anyone since Maggie."

"I haven't," He replied honestly. A smirk twitched at the corners of his lips and then vanished -quickly as it came. "That doesn't mean I've never going to be with someone again."

Sophie eyed him, sizing him up. "So you have a bunch of sex toys under your bed?"

He opened his mouth, a lie already half way up his throat, and the truth sitting deep in his stomach. It shuts and he swallows the lie back down, and feels it fight against the truth that sits there. He knows he can't say it. He knows she couldn't say anything of it's means back. That truth leaves the bitter taste in his mouth and leaves his mind in ambivalence. He sees the confusion mixed with a hint of worry and a glint of trepidation that the truth may just spill it and she'll find herself (despite all her preparation) ready to run. The emotions rage on in his stomach and he swallows again, forcing an answer out. "Uh, yeah."

Sophie presses her lips into a thin line, nodding curtly to his answer. It's not that she didn't like the answer, nor did she really care what it would've been, but it irked her that he almost lied to her. She, however, was lying to herself in this matter because she knew that the truth would've been a much harder blow then a nervous yeah. Like any other day in the past 9 years she would have to swallow that uneasy and uncertain feeling and go about her life as if nothing happened. "You should go...it's getting late and you're probably tired."

There was that look in his eyes again. It was anger and pure confusion mixed with a somewhat understanding but a frustration that it - they - would never be. "Yeah, I'll go," he blinked a few times as if something were in his eyes. The look in his eyes had vanished. "Thanks for giving me my shirt back."

She forced a smile. "No problem."

He turned around and opened the door. The lingering touch on the doorknob made his finger feel as though they were burning. He took the last two steps he needed to be out of her apartment. His fingers slipped over the width of the door to the handle on the outside. He pulled it closed and let his fingers slip over the metal and off before taking a deep breath and walking away. In the end he always left wishing to say the so many words buried deep beneath his tongue, and later regretting his cowardice in not being able to say them. In the end he knew that these things were better left unsaid until they had both healed from the scars of the past. He never used the words broken because they weren't broken - just hurt. As time went by and they would finally be somewhat healthier human beings the words might just slip off his tongue and he might find his mere soul unraveling before her.

**THE END**

**I have never really written anything that takes place during this time so I tried to do my best. You guys are probably thinking it was a bit strange for him to have the moment of uncertainty and wanting to lie when she asked him why he had sex toy under his bed. I hope I did alright trying to explain his thinking though. I have a 5 part story I'm working on right now that I'm hoping you guys will like that's about Nate doing those 'changes' he talked about in the finale. I'm not done with part 1 yet so it may be a while before I actually get it up. To wrap this up I don't own Leverage.**


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